SEASIDE ROMANCE: The Castle Hill Inn, named one of the country’s top 10 romantic hotels. Photo by Rod Millington.
Newport News
The music festivals are back and the sea breezes beckon. BY CINDY COCKBURN
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h, the charms of Newport. I was a columnist covering the social scene there for Women’s Wear Daily in the ’80s, and remember so many only-in-Newport moments: a chat with Prince Andrew (aka “Randy Andy”) at the Astor estate; cocktails with Andy Warhol on the roof of the Clarke Cooke House with socialite Cornelia Guest after his Newport Art Museum exhibit; talking to Jackie Kennedy’s mom, Janet Auchincloss, at the International Tennis Hall of Fame
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as she pulled on her white gloves; covering black-tie soirees at the same time Bill Cunningham was shooting his iconic images for the New York Times and Dominick Dunne was writing his investigative articles for Vanity Fair. Newport was magic back then. But then it always has been. Founded in 1639, this charming Colonial-era port has miles of beaches, scenic trails, distinctive shops, renowned restaurants, diverse accommodations and world-class events. It may be best-known for its
Gilded Age mansions, especially The Breakers, an 1895 mansion patterned after a Renaissance palace and built by the Vanderbilts in 1895; they were among the uber-wealthy families whose summer “cottages” in Newport led to the town’s moniker, “America’s First Resort.” Home to the Tennis Hall of Fame since 1954 and to the America’s Cup sailing competitions from 1930-83, it’s long been associated with both those sports — and, since the 1950s, with its two iconic music festivals.
